The Hunt For Coins
by The Threat
Summary: AU .Following the events from my last story 'Monster Making Made Easy', this story will give a different background to the so-called power coins.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: "Power Rangers" is originally created by Saban Entertainment. The characters "Terrence" and "Alexis" are mine.

* * *

><p>Angel Grove, middle of the night. Generally, it is quiet, safe for the occasional break-ins. Or other things, especially these past few months. But this night was quiet enough for everyone to be fast asleep.<p>

Everyone, except for one seventeen-year-old Alexis. She was sound asleep, until she heard a crack. It woke her, but as she looked around, she saw nothing wrong. That's when she heard a thud. She couldn't be sure what it was she was hearing, but she was certain that it came from outside. She got out of her bed to look outside her window. She needed but one glance outside to see a dark figure. Startled, she kept a distance, hoping the figure didn't see her. That's when it picked something up from the ground beneath him and threw it at the window. This was when she noticed something strange about the figure. It was definitely human, and not another monster, but its slow, careful moves, it gave her the impression to be in great pain. She noticed how it kept its left hand inside his coat, like it was hiding something. But as she took a better look at where his hand was, she noticed a light, as if he was keeping a flashlight there. It picked up a rock, but had some difficulty throwing it. It fell with a low thud back on the grass. Alexis was convinced this couldn't be another monster, but if it were just a burglar, he wouldn't go through all these lengths to draw her attention. She opened her window to talk to this dark figure.

"What do you want?" she asked, impatiently.

"Alexis, it's me." the dark figure whispered.

She recognized his voice immediately: "Terrence?"

"I..." the dark figure, Terrence, had difficulty talking, "I've done something... maybe I shouldn't have..."

She didn't know what this was about, but knowing him, she knew he wouldn't just come down to play a prank on her.

"Wait here." she whispered back to him, upon which she shut her window.

She wanted to rush down to let him in, but she didn't want to wake her parents, so she could only go so fast. When she eventually made it to her back door, she opened it to let him in. But just as Terrence made it on the threshold, Alexis immediately started asking him questions.

"What have you done?" she asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No..." Terrence replied, "Though... I wish I were... hurts can be healed..."

Alexis didn't understand: "Then why are you keeping your hand there? And what's with your flashlight?"

For a brief moment, Terrence looked surprised, as if he didn't understand her question. Then he realized that was merely because he knew something that she didn't. To clear up one thing, he decided to take his hand outside his coat and show her what he was hiding. The light Alexis kept seeing wasn't at all from a flashlight. Light was emitted from Terrence's own palm. It was as if a light-bulb was lit up inside his hand.

Alexis couldn't find the words to say: "What... how... what..."

"It burns..." Terrence said, "... all over..."

She had no idea what was happening to him, but she decided she couldn't leave him out there suffering like this. She let him inside her house.

In the bathroom, she let the cold water run over Terrence's hand.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yes..." Terrence replied, with some difficulty, "But... it still... hurts... everywhere... else..."

Alexis didn't need to think long about this. She turned to the bathtub, which she started to fill up with cold water.

"It's taking too long." she said.

"I'll take it." Terrence replied, as he ran and jumped into the tub, without undressing himself first.

The tub wasn't even half full yet, but anyone who jumped in water that cold would scream in pain. Terrence for some reason didn't. Whatever that light was that caused his pain, it was clearly strong enough to help him endure the cold water.

Alexis turned off the sink's crane, then turned to Terrence: "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

It still took a while for Terrence to relax and to stabilize his breathing. Once he did, he realized he just jumped in a bath, with his clothes still on.

"This... is awkward." he said.

Though still worried, Alexis smiled, now that Terrence had turned back to his usual self.

Terrence looked at her: "Er... so er..."

"I won't look, if you're worried about that." Alexis said.

"Among other things." Terrence replied.

This reminded Alexis of why he was in her house now: "So... why does your hand light up like that?"

Terrence sighed, as if he needed to think about where to begin: "Remember last week? Prom night?"

"Of course I do." Alexis said, "We had spent the night at your place."


	2. Chapter 2

A week earlier:

While everyone else from school was at the prom, Terrence and Alexis were spending their time at home. Although they got together to have some of their own fun, one can't spend a prom night away from prom, without actually mentioning the prom somehow.

"You're kidding." was Alexis' reply to something Terrence said at a point, "She actually asked you that?"

"Yeah." Terrence sighed, "It's not bad enough she wanted to force me into a friendship. She actually wanted to persuade me to go to the prom."

Alexis suddenly realized something else: "Wait a minute, why didn't you tell me that back then?"

Terrence had this questioning look on his face, so Alexis explained: "When you talked to Quentin, it was the same day you and I started talking to each other. You told me everything about what happened between you two, but you didn't say that."

Terrence shrugged: "I just thought that if I did, it would sound like I was asking you out for the prom."

Alexis suddenly looked almost insulted, so Terrence added: "We only just met, it would have been too soon every way you look at it."

Alexis almost giggled: "Oh, right."

"Which reminds me." Terrence suddenly brought up, "Remember what else I told you?"

Alexis thought about it for a moment, but since he wasn't specific on what he was talking about (since they talked about a lot of things that day), she couldn't reply: "About what?"

"Remember me mentioning the name Zordon?" he refreshed her memory.

That's when she remembered: "Oh yeah. Some guy that those Power Rangers were talking to, right?"

Terrence nodded: "I found out where I heard that name before."

"Really?" Alexis sounded enthusiastic, "Where?"

"I'll show you." Terrence got up from his sofa and headed to his room.

Alexis didn't know if she should just wait for him to come back, or follow him. He didn't tell her to wait. But even if he did, why should she? So she followed him.

They entered Terrence's bedroom, where he picked a book off his shelf. He opened the book, flipping some pages, until he finally found the one he was looking for.

"There." he pointed to Alexis.

What he was showing her was an old drawing, depicting what looked like wizards, animals with some human characteristics, and what looked like humans with the heads of prehistoric animals.

"It's an old story, dating back as far as five thousand years ago." Terrence started explaining to her.

"Five thousand years?" Alexis was surprised.

"Yes." Terrence replied, "According to this, there once was a sort of kingdom of wizards, led by one couple, the Wizard King and Wizard Queen."

Alexis looked surprised at the sound of that.

"It's an old story." Terrence added, "Back then, those names sounded much cooler than they do now."

Alexis shrugged, seemingly understanding it.

"The two of them were the most powerful ones alive, so it only seemed natural that they would be the rulers." Terrence explained, "But that wasn't enough. They didn't just want to rule over the wizards, they wanted to rule over all. And though there were other wizards who did not approve of this, the royal pair did not listen to them. Anyone who opposed them got eliminated."

"Didn't that make the other wizards see the error of what their masters were doing?" Alexis asked.

"They did." Terrence explained, "But most of the wizards were pacifists. They abhorred violence in any shape or form. But one wizards had the solution."

On the page Terrence was showing her, there was a text, where he pointed out one name, which Alexis read out loud: "Zordon."

"Indeed." Terrence replied, "Also, notice anything about theses people?"

He was pointing at the humans with animal-heads. One of them had the head of what looked like a three-horned animal. In many ways similar to a triceratops. Another had the head of what looked like a tiger. Then there was one with a hairy elephant's head. The other two became more recognizable this time, as the heads of a tyrannosaur and pterodactyl.

"They're Power Rangers?" Alexis was surprised.

"Yes." Terrence replied, "Zordon had created these warriors to do the fighting instead."

"Wait, why are there only five of them?" Alexis noticed, "Where did that sixth guy come from?"

"I don't know." Terrence admitted, "Must have been one they made during the last five thousand years. But it was never used until now, which is why it's not in the history books."

Alexis noticed something else: "What are these?"

Terrence looked at what she was pointing. Each one of these animal-headed people wore belts, each of which bore a strange piece of equipment that had a circle in its middle.

"Those?" Terrence replied, "That would be the source of their power. They'd have these medallions, which they inserted into these devices, allowing them to transform."

Terrence turned the page, where there was another picture. This time, it was of five circles, each bearing the image of the same five prehistoric animals.

"These are life-sized versions of the medallions." Terrence told her.

Alexis looked at the picture. She was astonished, but for different reasons one would expect: "Strange. I have a feeling I've seen those before."

"Doesn't surprise me." Terrence said, "They know a similar, and much older story in Japan."

"No, that's not it." Alexis said.

Terrence shut his book: "Okay, now I'm curious."

Alexis took her time to think about this: "I think I got it."

She sounded uncharacteristically calm about it, which surprised Terrence: "Oh?"

"I'm not sure." Alexis added, "We'd have to go to my place to be sure."

Terrence shrugged: "Well, what are we waiting for, then?"

Alexis smiled. It's not the first time she heard a guy eager to come over to her place. But it is the first time a guy wanted to come over for... different reasons.

The two of them didn't live that far apart, so it didn't take long for them to arrive at her house. When they arrived, Alexis almost immediately searched among a pile of VHS tapes she had, until she found what she was looking for. She inserted the tape in her VCR, played it and re-winded it. From the looks of it, she had recorded a movie that was broadcast on TV only a few days ago. But she didn't want him to see the movie. Since it was a recording of a TV-broadcast, it also recorded commercial interruptions. And it was one of these commercials which she wanted to show him.

"There!" she shouted.

"Fascinated by ancient cultures?" the commercial's narrator spoke, "Always wanted to know what the people of yesterday were like? Then 'Yesterday's World' is for YOU!"

It went on like that for a while. It was an advertisement for an exhibition that would begin the very next week. After some time, Alexis paused the tape on the exact moment she wanted to show him.

"See?" she said, "I knew I saw it before!"

Terrence could see why. Among the many artifacts that were displayed, there was what looked like a medallion, which had the resemblance of a strange sort of animal carved out of it.

"That can't be!" Terrence was awestruck.

"I know!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Do you realize what this means?" he asked her.

"Yeah! There's another Ranger out there!" Alexis replied.

"No." Terrence sounded more terrified, "If either Zordon or... whoever the enemy is found out about this..."

Alexis' enthusiasm ended with this. She loved to see the good part in this, but Terrence made it sound as though the existence of this medallion was more dangerous than anyone would expect.


	3. Chapter 3

Today, five hours earlier:

How or when either Zordon or Rita and Zedd found out about the existence of this extra medallion is something that could merely be guessed. But Terrence was right to think that it was a matter of time before they found out.

At this time, the Power Rangers were summoned to the Command Center. Once they arrived, they were more than a little curious why he called for them.

"What's going on Zordon?" Tommy asked.

"Behold the viewing globe." Zordon said, sounding as though he didn't want to waste any time.

The six were surprised about his abruptness, but they did as they were told. They looked at the viewing globe. It showed a news report, where a man was being interviewed about some exhibit that will be held later that day in Angel Grove. Behind him, there were people, unpacking large crates and taking out some of the artifacts that will be exhibited.

"Freeze!" Zordon commanded, and suddenly the picture stopped moving, "Zoom in."

Alpha punched a few buttons, which allowed the viewing globe to zoom in on one of the artifacts. And though the Power Rangers had never seen it before, they did recognize it for what it was.

"Another power coin?" Rocky questioned.

"Cool!" Aisha said, "So we can have a new Ranger on the team."

"Not so fast." Zordon interrupted, "I do not like stealing things."

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked, "It's a power coin. It belongs to the Rangers."

"But this coin is property of the exhibit." Zordon said, "If we are to claim it as our own, we should ask the owners for permission."

Everyone groaned, but Zordon wasn't finished: "But we must act quickly."

This got the attention of everyone, so Zordon could continue restlessly: "Our enemy may know about this as well. They will try to take it too."

"So they'll have a Ranger working for them?" Adam realized the danger there.

"I don't wanna pass up the chance of a new best friend." Kim replied.

"Then you know what to do." Alpha said, "We need you to guard the exhibit in case they try and steal that coin."

"We hear you Alpha." Tommy replied, "It's morphin' time!"

Three hours earlier:

On the moon, Rita and Zedd have restlessly tried to cook up their next attack plan, but nothing they came up with had any chance of succession. But suddenly, an answer burst into their throne room, under the form of an exclaiming Mordant.

"Lord Zedd, my master!" he shouted, "I have great news!"

"Do you mind, you stupid warthog!" Zedd wasn't in the mood for him.

"But look!" Mordant persisted, as he shoved a brochure in Zedd's hands.

Reluctantly, Zedd took it in his hands. On it, there were several pictures of several artifacts. None of which were of any interest of his, until he spotted one specific picture.

"Is..." Zedd couldn't believe it, "Is that... it can't be!"

"What's that?" Rita became curious, so she took the brochure from his hands and looked at it herself, "Is that a power coin?"

"Yes..." Zedd hissed.

"This could solve all our problems!" Rita realized, "If we had this power coin, we'd have a Ranger of our own!"

"It's not just any power coin." Zedd said, "It's the very first one ever made. The one of which Zordon's are mere copies. This one is more powerful than those six combined."

Goldar saw what Zedd meant: "Just tell me to break into the museum now, and I'll..."

"You fool!" Zedd interrupted him, "If I let you go now, the Rangers will know we stole that coin. But if we wait for the night, when everyone is asleep, they'll think it was just another burglar, and they won't suspect us."

"This way, we can look for a suitable bearer of the coin without them interfering." Rita was ecstatic about this, "Great idea!"

"And I know just the one who can easily break into the museum and get away fast enough before he's spotted." Zedd hissed, as he got up from his throne, walked towards the balcony, then pointed his staff towards something on Earth.

"Peckster, arise!" he shouted.

On Earth, a woodpecker was struck by Zedd's beam, which gave it a humanoid form, becoming this Peckster that Zedd mentioned.


	4. Chapter 4

The Power Rangers had arrived at the exhibit. Being the teenagers that they were, they immediately wanted to jump into the action.

"No!" Zordon told them, "If you do that, people will think you're the thieves. You have to wait until our enemy strikes."

Of course, as usual, this was followed by a loud groan, but they realized anything they do could either build up or destroy their reputation as heroes. So naturally, they did as they were told.

"What was that?" the Black Ranger heard something.

"What is it, Adam?" the White Ranger asked him.

"Wait, I'm hearing something too." the Yellow Ranger said.

"A sort of hammering?" the Blue Ranger questioned.

"They've already arrived." the Red Ranger deduced.

"Let's go!" the Pink Ranger exclaimed.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they headed towards what they believed to be the source of the sound.

They turned around the corner, where they beheld the strangest sight they had ever seen up until then. They saw what looked like a human-sized woodpecker, pecking its way through the wall, while next to him stood a woman with a gray and strange hair-do, wielding a staff with a circle on top of it.

"Stop that!" the White Ranger shouted.

The woodpecker stopped pecking, so he, alongside with the woman, turned to look at the Rangers.

"You!" the woman couldn't believe it.

"Whoever you are, we're here to stop you!" the Red Ranger said.

The woman growled: "I don't have time for you roaches! Peckster, keep drilling! Putties, attack!"

With those last words, lightning came from her staff, which called upon the so-called Putties who, as ordered, attacked the Rangers. Although they were but small fry for them, it did buy the woman and that monster, Peckster, to drill their way through the wall, so they were gone before they had even defeated the Putties.

Once the Putties were dealt with, the Black Ranger said: "We can't just let them get that coin before us."

"After them!" the White Ranger commanded.

"Right!" they all shouted in unison.

One by one, they climbed through the hole in the wall, entering the building and trying to find their way through, hopefully beating those two in finding the power coin.

Once inside, they didn't know where to begin, so the Blue Ranger contacted Zordon: "Zordon, do you know where that coin is?"

"I am sorry, Blue Ranger." Zordon replied, "But my sensor can't detect it."

"I can't understand it." Alpha added, "If this coin is so powerful, we should be able to find its energy signature."

"Legend has it that the coin has a mind of its own." Zordon continued, "It may be powerful enough to deflect any of our scanners, almost as though it doesn't want to be found."

"Yeah, yeah..." the Pink Ranger sounded, "Enough with all that babble. Can you tell us where it is?"

"What do you think I've been saying?" Zordon almost sounded impatient.

"I'm sorry, Kimberley, we can't." Alpha said.

The Pink Ranger scoffed: "Some help they are."

"Guys." the Black Ranger said, "We're wasting time like this."

"He's right." the Yellow Ranger agreed, "Let's go!"

Each of them went into a different direction, each completely disregarding where the other went. They split themselves up, even though they hadn't agreed or discussed to do it. They either work in perfect sync with each other, or they each just did whatever came to their minds and it just so happened to be advantageous.


	5. Chapter 5

Rita and Peckster searched the building, and eventually found what they were looking for. They found a glass case, with the power coin inside it.

"There it is!" Rita shouted, "Peckster, go get it!"

"With pleasure, ma'am." Peckster replied.

But just as he was about to get it, a pink ray hit it before him, destroying the case, and blowing the coin away.

"Everyone..." Rita and Peckster heard the Pink Ranger's voice talk, "... I found them and the coin!"

"Where are you?" somebody asked.

"Er..." the Pink Ranger tried to look around, "I don't know."

"Rangers, home in on her signal." Zordon's voice sounded, "This may also be the best time to test the weapons I gave you last week."

"Don't just stand there!" Rita told Peckster, "Get it!"

The Pink Ranger ran to intercept, but all it took was one punch from Peckster to stop her.

"Don't cut in!" Peckster said, "Never heard of finders keepers?"

"That coin belongs to the Power Rangers." the Pink Ranger said.

"Wrong!" Peckster exclaimed, "It was never anyone's!"

"Oh do I have to do everything myself!" Rita whined, so she started towards the coin herself.

Just as she was about to pick it up, someone kicked it away. She looked up, to see the Red Ranger standing over her.

"Now, who are you?" he asked.

As a reply, she hit him with her staff, which she then used to summon more putties. The Pink Ranger remembered her own weapon, which Zordon had only just reminded her of, so she decided to use hers in this fight.

"Pterodactyl Thunder Whip!" she shouted, and in her hand she had her whip.

With it, she could much more easily hit some Putties' Z's, but Peckster was still too much of a problem, as he suddenly spread his wings and blew the Pink Ranger away.

As the fight was going on, the Blue Ranger arrived. He wanted to help the others, but that was before he found the power coin lying at his feet. He was about to pick it up, when the Pink Ranger accidentally hit him. Rita saw her chance this time, but she had to find her way through Putties in order to get there. Suddenly, all the Putties were beaten, as the Black and Yellow Ranger had arrived at the scene.

"Hi there!" the Yellow Ranger said, "Whoever you are."

"We've done it!" the White Ranger suddenly shouted.

Everyone turned to look at him, and in his hand, he held the power coin.

"You've lost." he said, "The power coin is ours!"

A shadow ran past the White Ranger, and once it was out of his sight, so was the power coin.

"What?" the White Ranger couldn't understand it.

"He took the coin!" the Blue Ranger said.

"After him!" the Pink Ranger shouted, upon which both her and the Blue Ranger ran after him.

The remaining four wanted to follow as well, but Rita used her staff to shoot at them, stopping them from going anywhere.

"Peckster! You wait for them at the entrance!" she commanded.

"I'm on my way!" Peckster replied and went to do as told.

The Blue and Pink Rangers were chasing that shadow they saw. As best as they could tell, it was a man in dark clothes, not some monster. Who or whatever he was, he wasn't working for that woman they met, so that must mean he's not evil. So they deduced.

"We've got to stop him somehow!" the Pink Ranger said.

The Blue Ranger had an answer: "Stega Stinger!"

He stuck out a weapon, which was a tiny machine that shot a yellow wire, with a grappling hook attached to its end. This wire wrapped itself around the shadow's legs, causing him to fall. The Blue Ranger pushed a button on his Stega Stinger, which reeled the wire back. But the shadow wasn't planning to give up. As he was being pulled away, he found a pillar to which he could hold on to, making it harder for the machine to reel him back.

"Nice work, Billy." the Pink Ranger said, "I'll get him now."

The shadow knew he had to cause some kind of distraction. He bent his knees, and in so doing pulled on that string. Since the Blue Ranger was still holding on to that string, in pulling it he fell down.

"Billy, are you okay?" the Pink Ranger stopped running towards the shadow, to take care of the Blue Ranger.

With this, the shadow could unwrap the string around his legs, and run to the exit.


	6. Chapter 6

The shadow knew that if he just ran to the front door, he could trigger an alarm, which must be why that woman and that monster decided to drill a hole through the wall instead. He could run to that hole, but that was probably where they'd be awaiting him, so he searched for an emergency exit instead. Once he found one, he opened the door and left.

He ended up in a back alley, from where he ran as quickly, yet as quietly as possible to safety. Unfortunately, that woodpecker monster was waiting for him at the end of that alley.

"There you are!" Peckster shouted, "Now give me that coin!"

The shadow cleared his throat before talking: "What makes you think I'd give it to you?"

"I wont peck a hole in your head if do!" Peckster replied.

"So either I don't give you the coin and you kill me..." the shadow was considering his options, "... or I do give it to you, granting your mistress all the power to conquer the world, and I'm dead anyway."

"What makes you think my masters want to conquer the world?" Peckster questioned.

The shadow did some quick thinking: "Catch!"

He tossed the coin in the air, distracting Peckster as he was trying to catch it. The shadow kicked his shins, causing him to fall down in agony, so the shadow could catch the coin instead. He made to run, but Peckster had recovered just enough to grab his leg. The shadow fell down, but he was lucky that he held on as tightly to the coin as he did. But that still made him a target for Peckster. He thought of trying to kick Peckster off him, but that was when the coin started to act weird. He didn't know why, but it suddenly started to warm up. In a reflex he wanted to let go, but something about the coin made him hang on much longer. It started to cause such great agony, he started kicking and screaming. Both of which became too much for Peckster to handle. The screaming hurt his ears and the kicking hit his face. He let go of the shadow and got up.

"Alright, since you want to make this hard..." he said, as he readied his beak to peck him.

Two rays hit Peckster before he could do anything. He turned to look, and saw that the Blue and Pink Ranger had caught up with them.

"Kim, you take the coin, I'll get that woodpecker." the Blue Ranger said.

The Pink Ranger nodded as she headed to the shadow, while Peckster already made to attack the Blue Ranger.

While they were fighting, the Pink Ranger tried to grab hold of the shadow's arm. Once she did, she put her hands on his gloved fist, trying to pry it open. It wasn't easy, but she eventually managed. What she saw then made no sense. The coin was gone, there was only a hole in the palm of the glove, shaped like a perfect circle. And through that hole, she could see a strange light, as if the shadow had a light-bulb lit up inside his hand. The Pink Ranger took a quick look at the shadow's face, but noticed only then that he was wearing a mask. Not that it mattered, because the shadow used his free hand to punch her face, so she would let go of him, and he could run away.

On the moon, Zedd was watching the fight, and grew impatient with it. He raised his staff and pointed it at Peckster: "Grow, Peckster, grow!"


	7. Chapter 7

From inside the building, Rita could sense something was going on outside, so she decided to leave: "We'll finish this another time, Power Brats!"

Once she teleported herself away, this left an opening for the remaining four Rangers to leave the building.

"What's going on?" the Yellow Ranger wondered, "Who was that woman?"

"And why did she leave?" the Black Ranger asked.  
>His answer came in the form of a tremor, followed by the sound of their communicators.<p>

"Tommy! Anybody!" the Pink Ranger sounded, "That woodpecker-thing just became a giant! We need your help!"

"We're on our way, Kim!" the White Ranger replied.

Outside, the Blue and Pink Rangers had already summoned their own Zords, with which they tried to fend off Peckster. Since it could fly, there wasn't much that the Triceratops could do, so it was all up to the Pterodactyl. But even though Peckster wasn't paying much attention to her, as he was still searching for that shadow that took the coin, the Pterodactyl was too small to give Peckster any significant blow. It wasn't until the White Tiger jumped into the air and attacked him that the tide was turned. The White Tiger jumped onto Peckster, forcing him to land. And to prevent him from flying again, it bit both of Peckster's wings. Meanwhile, the remaining five Zords combined into the Megazord, and once Peckster couldn't flee anymore, the Megazord used its finisher to destroy the monster.

"That takes care of that." the Red Ranger said.

"Did you guys get the coin?" the White Ranger asked.

"No." the Blue Ranger replied, "That mystery guy got away with it."

"Now what do we do?" the Yellow Ranger asked.

"Zordon!" the Black Ranger called him, "We need your help."

"There's nothing I can do." Zordon replied, "Our scanners cannot pick it up."

"Aiaiaiaiai!" Alpha said, "What do we do?"

As they were talking, the shadow kept running. Once the giants were out of his sight, he was sure that he was out of both the Power Rangers' and the monster's sight, so it was safe for him to take off his mask and gloves. As best as he could, he ran to the only place he could think of where he could find some help. He arrived at a house, where he picked up a small rock and tossed it to one of its upstairs windows. Given the pain he was in, his aim was off, so he didn't hit the window, and whatever he did hit, it caused nothing more but a crack. He tried again, causing a thud instead. This time, somebody did appear behind the window, but got startled at the sight of him and took a few steps away from the window. Determined to get the attention, he picked up another rock and threw it at the window. Still not sure if he got the wanted attention, he picked up another rock, but he had some difficulty throwing it this time. He dropped the rock back on the grass. Eventually, the person opened the window to talk to this shadow.

"What do you want?" she asked, impatiently.

"Alexis, it's me." the shadow whispered.

She recognized his voice immediately: "Terrence?"

"I..." the shadow, Terrence, had difficulty talking, "I've done something... maybe I shouldn't have..."


	8. Chapter 8

Once Terrence had relaid his story to Alexis, there was only one question that was on Alexis' mind: "So what do you do now?"

"I don't know." Terrence said, "All I wanted was to make sure neither the Power Rangers or the enemies got this medallion, I didn't expect this thing to... I don't even know what this is, but I didn't expect that happen."

"Didn't you say it... melted through your skin and is now inside you?" Alexis asked him.

Terrence looked at her: "That still doesn't explain wha..."

He couldn't finish his sentence, as he started groan in pain again.

Alexis ran to him, hoping she could help him one way or another: "What's wrong?"

"I don't know..." Terrence replied.

Alexis didn't understand why, but somehow his body seemed to take strange forms. At several spots, his skin turned green and scaly, then it disappeared again. And if that didn't happen, his body seemed to emit a strange glow. After a few seconds, it stopped. There was a pause between the two, which only lasted until Alexis asked the more obvious question.

"What was that?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know." Terrence sounded annoyed, "But if I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have taken it away."

Alexis thought about this for a few seconds: "You said this is a medallion, much like the ones the Rangers use to transform. Right?"

"Yeah. So?" Terrence didn't understand her.

"Maybe that's what this is doing to you." Alexis deduced, "It's transforming you."

Terrence buried his head in his hands: "Just what I need."

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked, "If this can make you transform, can't you use it to be a better hero than those other six?"

"Not if I can't control it." Terrence replied, "This thing comes and goes, and when it comes, it causes pain."

"Maybe if you train yourself to endure it..." Alexis suggested, but got interrupted.

"Train myself?" Terrence questioned, "How?"

Alexis thought about if for a few seconds: "I know a place in the woods. If we spend the summer there, we'd be left alone, and you can train yourself to control this."

Terrence needed to think this through: "What do we tell our parents?"

Alexis smiled: "Don't worry, you can leave that to me."

Meanwhile, the Power Rangers had returned to the Command Center, where Zordon explained the seriousness of the situation: "It is fortunate that our enemies don't have the power coin now. But I fear for the one who does."

"Why?" Billy asked, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Yeah." Rocky agreed, "Even if he were a bad guy, we're six against one. He wouldn't be a match for us."

"Yeah, so all we gotta do is beat him and take it away from him." Kim laughed.

"It is not that simple." Zordon told them, "From what you relaid to me, it sounds like it has already merged itself with him."

"Merged?" Aisha asked.

"Do you know why you use morphers?" Zordon asked, "It's because it was the only way for you to access the the powers they hold.

"English, Zordon." Tommy demanded.

"What he's saying..." Alpha explained, "... is that the morphers are like keys to a door."

"Meaning...?" Adam asked.

"Much like you need a key to open a door..." Alpha answered, "... you need the morphers to use the power of the coins."

"Which is not the case with the coin I sent you to collect." Zordon continued, "It merges with its host, so he or she can use its powers."

"Ew." was Kim's reaction.

"So much for taking it away from him then." Rocky said.

"In addition, it is also much more powerful than all six of you combined." Zordon added.

"And so much for outnumbering him." Billy remarked.

"Whoever its bearer is, the coin is more of a danger to him than it is to us." Zordon continued.

"What do you mean, Zordon?" Aisha asked.

"It's too powerful." Zordon explained, "It was never meant to be used by a human. Unless this person is stronger than the average human, its powers could be too much for him to bear, and eventually kill him."

The Rangers were shocked to hear that. It took a while before Aisha said: "So much for getting a seventh member."

**THE END**


End file.
